Fight Night 11 on 09/20/2007

According to the Fight Network you can expect Fight Night 11 on 09/20.

According to sources, Din Thomas will meet Spencer Fisher on the show. It will be the lead-in to the premier of TUF 6.

I also mentioned the other day that Chris Leben could meet Mike Swick on the show as well.

Continue Reading!

Fighter Salaries for Fight Night 10 and TUF 5 Finale

details here

Continue Reading!

Roundtable Recap: The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale

I'm working through my injuries to bring you this update.

Results:

1. Casey Trowbridge: 8-0-1
   
2. Ric Gillespie: 7-1-1
   
3. Euan Taylor: 5-3-1
   
4. Art Shimko: 5-3-1
   
5. Scott Liedle: 3-5-1

I go back to back, baby!

Results behind the cut:



Euan and I picked Matt Wiman, everyone else picked Brian Geraghty and they were wrwrwrwrwrong.

Everyone had Garcia, and everyone was right.

Everyone but Art had Maynard, but it was a no contest. I think Maynard won, but what are you gonna do? Nobody got a loss, it went in to the NC section of my spreadsheet.

Everyone but Scott had Miller, Scott had Andy's Wang and was wrwrwrwrwrong.

Scott had Melendez and everyone else had Lauzon. Once again, he was wrwrwrwrwrwrwrong.

Everyone had Huerta and everyone was right.

Euan, Scott and Art had Sword and I don't blame them it is a cool name. Ric and I had Leites and were not wrwrwrwrwrwrwrong.

Euan had Gamburyan and everyone else had Diaz. Its too bad about the injury but Euan is stil wrwrwrwrwrwrwrwrwrwrong.

Finally, Ric and I had Penn (and it killed me to pick against Pulver who I grew to really like and respect throughout the series, but I didn't want to get this wrong). Everyone else had Little Evil and they were wrong. I can't wait to see Jens fighting in the WEC...I'll be there cheering.

I almost wish I had gotten it wrong, I feel the same way about picking against Jens that I do when I have to pick against the Raiders during a football game, I'd rather be wrong.

But, undefeated...baby and I've got the hot hand now with back to back wins.

Full standings after Vengeance tomorrow.

Speaking of Vengeance that roundtable is here

Continue Reading!

'The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale' Is In The Books

The lowdown from Las Vegas' (sold-out) Pearl:

- I'm stepping in for Casey, who has torn both of his groins and broken both of his necks. We're not sure how long he'll be out of action, but we wish him a speedy recovery.



- Lightweights: Roger Huerta defeated (ref-stoppage TKO @ 3:30 - round 2) Doug Evans. Three words: Action, action, action (and no way am I even attempting to describe all of it). Great fight, with Evans presenting one hell of a challenge before Huerta was on Evans' back and raining down blows, prompting the ref to step in. Evans (who may have taken the first round) very much impressed me, and were he not brought back to television, it would be a damn shame. After the fight, Huerta thanked God. I don't like the sound of that.

- In the house, the cast of some show on Comedy Central. So?

- Middleweights: Thales Leites defeated (head-and-arm-choke submission @ 3:50 - round 1) Floyd Sword. Another good fight, although not quite at the level of the opener. Leites' poise and generalship in getting Sword to tap were beautiful things to watch.

- Lightweights (taped earlier in the evening): Gray Maynard (G) and Rob Emerson battled to a no-contest. They never bothered giving the time, which will make sense to you in a little bit. For a description of the first round, see my thoughts on the opener, although these guys spent a lot more time on the ground. First round definitely went to Maynard (G). Maynard (G) hits fucking hard for a lightweight! Some of the body shots he dished out were just brutal. So brutal, this fight will forever be remembered for its Matt Hughes-Carlos Newton-like finish. The second round opened with Maynard (G) slamming Emerson to the mat, which, because of the earlier punishment his body took, caused Emerson to tap, but Maynard (G) KO'ed himself, so the ref declared it a no-contest. The fans were pissed, and so was Maynard (G), who claims to not have been knocked out. I'm pretty sure he was. Emerson claimed to have a preexisting rib injury, and said Maynard (G) was definitely out. The fans also hated that, because Emerson claimed to be nice enough to not want to beat his "friend" in that manner. Well, that would be fine, except you tapped out, you fucking goof! Overworked Steve Mazzagatti, in my opinion, made a bad call, and the fight should've went to Maynard (G). It took the announcers all of about three-seconds to begin pushing the rematch.

- Joe Rogan talked to Shannon Lee, daughter of Bruce Lee. Jesus, does everyone and their kid have a fucking show to promote?! Rogan definitely had a hard-on for her.

- Lightweights (taped earlier in the evening): Joe Lauzon defeated (triangle-choke submission @ 2:09 - round 2) Brandon Melendez (who, at one-hundred-fifty-seven-pounds, couldn't make weight). Another exciting, action-packed fight. I gave the first to Lauzon, who kept the majority of it on the ground. Melendez was definitely game, though, escaping more than one attempt at a submission, reversing position, and even making it back to his feet. In the second, Lauzon scored another quick takedown, waited until the time was right, and secured the choke, which caused Melendez to tap.

- Rachelle Leah (and some Dana White-looking guy, who made sure he was glued directly to her side) was in the house. I wonder what she sees in him?

- TUF5 final: Nathan Diaz defeated (tap-out submission @ 0:20 - round 2) Manny Gamburyan. Both of these guys are related to accomplished fighters, but I forget their names. On an unrelated subject, free Nick Diaz! I gave the first to Gamburyan, because he was able to quickly grab Diaz, he was able to control the pace and keep most of it on the ground. I swear, once Gamburyan got a grip, he never let go, even for the few seconds Diaz was able to get to his feet. In the second, Gamburyan shot in for a takedown, a bone was visibly popped out in his shoulder, and he quickly tapped. Tough break for Gamburyan, but I'm just glad Diaz (who had the crowd's support) didn't let me down. I have to admit, even while Dana White was presenting him with his prizes, Diaz looked like he couldn't wait to (take another) toke. Gamburyan said his shoulder popped out, which has happened in the past, including in his fight against Lauzon.

- Lightweights (taped earlier in the evening): Cole Miller defeated (ref-stoppage-TKO @ 1:10 - round 1) Andy Wang. This took about forty-seconds longer than I expected. Wang spent the entire first round on his feet... Until taking a high-kick, which floored his goofy ass. Miller pounced on Wang and rained down punches, causing the ref to step in. Wang protested the decision, but he was hurt (and is an idiot). An emotional Miller dedicated the fight to his late grandfather.

- Lightweights: BJ Penn defeated (rear-naked-choke submission @ 3:12 - round 2) Jens Pulver. Among those looking on, were some wussy, Robbie Lawler, and Matt Hughes. Enjoyed the first round (which I barely gave to Penn), which saw Penn get Pulver on the ground and try for an armbar, which Pulver escaped. Pulver managed to reverse position, but Penn still had to fight out of a triangle. Penn eventually got to his feet, and while there wasn't a great deal of action, definitely held his own in the standup. In the second, Pulver defended his ass off, but it wasn't enough to prevent a rear-naked choke, which caused Pulver to tap. Hughes shown great disappointment at the finish, which must've been like déjà vu. Speaking of déjà vu, like in the second Hughes-Frank Trigg fight, Penn wasn't exactly quick in letting go, although he and Pulver went on to make amends, to the point where Pulver if they could train together, and Penn said yes. Pulver confirmed his move to one-hundred-forty-five-pounds and the WEC. Penn simply said, if you want to know how he feels, go to his website (www.bjpenn.com). Unlike Euan (and his mustard) Penn continues to be the fucking man!

Casey's a fucking warrior, so he'll fucking give you the fucking rest of the prelim results, fuck.

Another of the UFC's good outings, maybe their best of the year. Luvved the (Bill) Goldberg walkouts they gave the four main-eventers, as it created an amazing atmosphere, but it still paled in comparison to 'Shamrock vs. Baroni,' which was a better overall show.

Continue Reading!

Roundtable Reminder: The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale

The show is tonight, the thread is here and as I write this, Ric, Scott, Art and myself have made our picks. You know how to join by now.

Ric's picks are especially creative, and if you read them after waking up it might take you awhile to figure it out. Second roundtable of the weekend where I wasn't the funniest...I may be slipping.

Of course, Jay Glazer's submission advice led to me getting choked out by my sleeping dog earlier this morning so it is kind of understandable.

Continue Reading!

Weigh-ins for that other show

everyone made weight...except one dude

Brandon Malendez came in at 157.

I am now looking a lot less forward to this show.

Roundtable picks can be viewed and added to here
Art, Scott and I have already made ours.

Continue Reading!

MMA News and Notes for 06/22

Lets take a look around the world on a busy weekend.

As usual, all the good stuff requires you to click the cut.



Joe Lauzon is interviewed by Inside Fighting and says that B.J. Penn suggests he move to Hawaii and train with him. Well, moving to Hawaii would rule...but if you train with B.J. Penn, expect your conditioning to end up in the nearest toilet. Of course, if I lived in Hawaii my conditioning would suck to and I know this because it sucks now so why would it change?

Is EXC teaming with producer Mark Burnett on a reality series?

Krazy Horse was released from jail but due to traffic missed his flight to be at yesterday's weigh-ins. He is expected to be at tonight's show.

Josh Barnett says nice things about the UFC and Bodog in the audio interview which starts at the 27:00 mark or so.

Dan Henderson Vs. Quinton Jackson and Matt Hamill Vs. Michael Bisping are official

Season 5 of TUF was a season to remember ...for the lowest ratings of the series.

Andy Wang is Pursuing Perfection unless it leads to him listening to his corner or going with his strength in a fight, those are just crazy theories he'll never try.

Jens Pulver looks for 2 in a row
while B.J. Penn has been wining like a bitch for 5 years

Gray Maynard wants to go Nelson Munce on the light weight division I wonder if he wouldn't be better off trying to go all Jimbo Jones instead?

It is Manny Gamburyan's relentless charge that leads him to Vegas on Saturday most people I know are led to Vegas by a map. Manny had better be careful, too much relentless charge and the NSAC might suspend him for 8 months.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports:
Pulver eyes rematch
Roger Huerta is a rising star

Manny Gamburyan is the Ultimate Underdog and we're not talking the movie here.

Jens Pulver is in for the fight of his life

Bad Blood: Penn Vs. Pulver to air on Versus tonight?

A breakdown of the last few weeks worth of TUF ratings is here

Rex Richards talks his Strikeforce return

Jeff Curran is ready for his move to the WEC

Cung Le is stepping up in competition tonight.

Ben Rothwell was a ringside observer as the Toronto Dragons nearly ruined his post-season chances.

A look back at the IFL's Vegas event is here

The Orange County Register makes fun of Manny's height

I'm done with this for now, maybe more later if I can be bothered.

Continue Reading!

Roundtable Reminders

I've already pimped Strikeforce and as of now, you can read my picks as well as Euan's for that show. I believe the show starts at 7:00 PM tomorrow so that's when you've got to have your picks in.

Saturday is the Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale and as of now my picks are available for your reading pleasure and you may add yours as well.

Last and like I said yesterday, least is WWE 'Vengeance' and as of now, nobody has made picks and that's ok because the show isn't until Sunday.

I offer this as a reminder to the rest of CARE/Jabronis, but also as an invitation to the rest. All you need to do is sign up for the forum and post your predictions in the appropriate thread. In the past, only the CARE/Jabroni team had posting access to that particular folder but it is now open to everyone, so we invite you to join us.

Continue Reading!

Roundtable Reminder

There are 3 this week.

First up we have Strikeforce/EXC 'Judgment Day' 06/22
Euan did some great work on his.

Next up is The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale 06/23

Last and judging by the build, least...WWE 'Vengeance' 06/24

All shows lock at the beginning of the event.

Continue Reading!

Interviews with the TUF 5 coaches

B.J. Penn's is Here

Jens Pulver's is here
and in the interview, he speaks of a desire to drop to 145 and fight in the WEC. I think Jens would be a great featherweight and a nice edition to the WEC.

Continue Reading!

MMA News and Notes for 06/19

Ric wrote the following earlier today

If You Missed 'Bad Blood: BJ Penn Vs. Jens Pulver'...

You're a fucking idiot, because that shit rocked!

PS: If you give Pulver even a remote chance of winning this fight, you're an even bigger idiot.

Now, if you're offended by this, you really shouldn't be. After all, nobody is as big an expert on being an idiot as Ric. They'd ask him to write a book on the subject but they know it would take him too long to learn how to write. So when Ric says you're an idiot for thinking certain ways, it is not because of supression of thought but a result of years and years of experience. This is a public service brought to you by Casey Trowbridge and the Old Country Times.

The rest of the stuff is behind the cut:



Dana White says that dissolving Pride is a possibility I call it a likelyhood.

Phil Baroni Interview: here

Manny Gamburyan Interview here

Ken Shamrock wants to fight in UFC again

The CSAC does more talking about the drug test failure of some guy named Royce something.

Anthony Figueroa is ready for his fight friday on the Strikeforce show against Chris Cariaso.

Murilo "Ninja" Rua is still trying to get licensed in California.

Kevin Iole writes that Saturday was an Ultimate Success

I want to take Dana White up on his offer:

There are times I’ve been caught walking somewhere and I have an important meeting. But I’ll stay there for two-and-a-half hours. I don’t care what I have to do. If I have somewhere to go, a meeting, people waiting for me, a rehearsal for the show, I don’t care. We’re successful because we make sure every last fan gets what he wants.”

I, as a fan, want to see Gabe Ruediger Vs. Travis Lutter in a UFC eat-off contest...on a show headlined by Frank Shamrock Vs. Marlon Sims and Noah Thomas ina 2-on-1 handicap streetfight with Butterbean as special ref. I don't think that's too much to ask?

Rich Franklin is getting a Title Shot and they really need to quit telling guys this before fights.

The payouts for last Tuesday’s UFC Fight Night 10 card have been made available by the state of Florida. These figures do not include deductions or bonuses:

Spencer Fisher ($26,000) defeated Sam Stout ($6,000)

Jon Fitch ($36,000) defeated Roan Carneiro ($5,000)

Drew McFedries ($14,000) defeated Jordan Radev ($5,000)

Thiago Tavares ($10,000) defeated Jason Black ($6,000)

Forrest Petz ($8,000) defeated Luigi Fioravanto ($8,000)

Tamdan McCory ($8,000) defeated Pete Spratt ($12,000)

Gleison Tibau ($10,000) defeated Jeff Cox ($3,500)

Anthony Johnson ($6,000) defeated Chad Reiner ($3,000)

Nate Mohr ($6,000) defeated Luke Caudillo ($3,000)

Credit: 5 Ounces of Pain (Note to Petz and Fioravanti, don't expect fight of the night bonuses)

Could Diego Sanchez Vs. Hayato Sakurai not be happening?

Robbie Lawler is injured and his Icon Sport Middleweight title defense against Kala Kolohe Hose in Hawaii has been postponed until September 15.

Randy Couture is headed to Canada and it is doubtful that Rampage Jackson will ever be able to do the same.

This Saturday's fight between Kimbo Slice and Ray Mercer is only going to be an exhibition and will not be judged.

Gina Carano will be added to the announce team for coverage of Friday's Strikeforce/EXC undercard on Pro Elite.com

Nate Diaz is doing the family name proud

B.J. Penn has 5 years worth of payback on his mind

FHM has a look at Rochelle Leah

I love the UFC.com headline for the FHM story:

UFC® All Access™ Host Rachelle Leah Breaks Out!

There's a joke in there somewhere and unfortunately, I think we made it a few podcasts ago.

Randy Couture is popular or something.

I'll have more later, of that you can be sure.

Continue Reading!

This week's Roundtables

Its a busy week ahead for Roundtables with 3 events in 3 days.

Friday: June 22, 2007
Strikeforce/EXC
You can see the card, our picks and make your own at that link.

Then we move to Saturday: June 23, 2007
The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale
Card, predictions, and all that at that link.

Sunday we conclude June with:
WWE 'Vengeance'
It is the night of champions.

I'll not update the standings again until after Vengeance. There's just too much to do it after each show.

Speaking of Standings...

Slammiversary 2007

1. Scott Liedle: (8-2)
   
2. Casey Trowbridge: (7-3)
   
3. Wade Wallenstein: (6-4)
   
4. Euan Taylor: (4-5)
   
5. Art Shimko: (3-6)

Continue Reading!

TUF 5 Finale card announced

From UFC.com

1. Brian Geraghty Vs. Matt Wiman (Dark)
   
2. Alan Berube Vs. Leonard Garcia (Dark)
   
3. Rob Emerson Vs. Gray Maynard (Dark)
   
4. Cole Miller Vs. Andy Wang (Dark)
   
5. Joe Lauzon Vs. Brandon Malendez (Dark)
   
6. Middleweight Bout: Floyd Sword Vs. Thales Leites
   
7. Lightweight Bout: Doug Evans Vs. Roger Huerta
   
8. TUF 5 Finals: Manny Gamburyan Vs. Nathan Diaz
   
9. Lightweight Bout: B.J. Penn Vs. Jens Pulver

Reportedly, Corey Hill is not fighting on this show due to injury.

The CARE/Jabroni predictions thread is here

Continue Reading!

Joe Lauzon's TUF 5 Reaction Blog

You can read this week's recap here I will give my comments on the show as a whole in a post this weekend, but one thing I will miss about season 5 is reading Jens' and Joe's reactions to each episode.

Continue Reading!

TUF 5 Finals set

We now know the 2 men who will fight in the finals of the Ultimate Fighter 5.

They both represent team Pulver.

It will be Nathan Diaz Vs. Manny Gambaryan.

Also on that show, Jens Pulver will face B.J. Penn in a UFC 35 rematch. Euan will hopefully have the recap of this week's wackiness on Friday.

Continue Reading!

TUF 5 Semifinals revealed by UFC.com

If you look at the details for the final episode of TUF 5, you'll see the semifinal fight listed and by process of elimination you'll know them both.

In case they change the description, I'll put the info behind the cut.



If you don't want to know stop reading now.

The semifinal fights are:
Manny Gambaryan Vs. Joe Lauzon
Gray Maynard Vs. Nate Diaz

Continue Reading!

MMA News and Notes for 06/10

All of the good stuff, and there's not a lot, but a few things of note, are behind the cut.


MMAWeekly has a column looking at the Brazilian scene

It's a must win situation for the IFL's Reno Lions and John Gunderson this coming Saturday. It is also must make money and in a freakin hurry for the IFL.

Global War results here for the none of you who care. Although props to Gladiator Challenge for managing to localize a global war to Farmington, New Mexico thus sparing the rest of us the horrors of such a war.

Jens Pulver's reaction to episode 10 of the Ultimate Fighter 5 is here

Joe Lauzon's for the Boston Herald is here

Not much on a Sunday, but between this and the few posts prior it should be enough. Back later, if necessary.

Continue Reading!

Ratings for Thursday

TNA: 1.0/1.6

Ultimate Fighter: 1.1/1.9

Continue Reading!

MMA News and Notes for 06/09

Lets take a look around the MMA World. All the Good stuff is behind the cut.



I guess from this profile that Tyson Griffin has short-term memory

So Tamdan McCrory wears glasses

Jason Black is filling the void

Jon Fitch is enjoying the ride

Spencer Fisher is looking for redemption

Hey Art, expect a call from Tim Persey

Yes, the men who fought for K-1 last week got paid

Leonard Garcia will fight on the TUF 5 Finale and so will his UFC 69 opponent Roger Huerta and sadly they will not be rematching one another. Garcia will face Alan Berube and Huerta will face someone named Doug Evans.

Alan Belcher is back on track

UFCJunkie.com reports that Diego Sanchez will face Hayato "mach" Sakurai at UFC 74.

Sean Salmon will be fighting in Cleveland on Sunday just a couple weeks after his UFC 71 loss to Alan Belcher.

A FEG official says it is preposterous for anyone to question their numbers. Well, for the record I am not questioning their numbers I'm saying they're full of shit, so that's ok.

Randy Couture is interviewed on CBSSportsline.

Does Tommy Morrison (scheduled to make his MMA debut tonight) still have HIV? Well, he'll not be blood tested for his fight tonight with it being on an Indian reservation.

Is Elite XC planning a show for July 28?

A transcript from the Frank Shamrock-Phil Baroni press conference is here

Shad Lierley got a vote of confidence from his teammates before fighting Chris Horodecki.

This just in from the IFL, for Renzo Gracie fighting is a family affair

The IFL announces their lineup for June 16

Dan Henderson will get to challenge Quinton Jackson at UFC 75 in London

I'll end this for now, be back when I'm back.

Continue Reading!

Sims-Thomas fight off of TUF Five Finale

I say the fight was canceled while a quote given by Dana White to the Houston Chronicle's Steve Sievert says it was never going to happen. You can read the entire piece including Dana's comments here

I don't buy this one for a second. This announcement appeared on UFC.com for crying out loud, if he didn't have knowledge of it before then than this is a pretty WCW like spectacular mistake.
For all of the outrage displayed during the show about this fight, it didn't stop commercials hyping it from being produced and aired for a week straight. It didn't stop them from putting Dana's rant after a commercial for maximum impact and to not only retain viewers through the break but to quite frankly give them time to inform their friends that Dana was about to rant.
I can buy that Dana White travels quite a bit especially these days and I'll even say that there are likely things that happen that escape his notice. However, this kind of thing seems a bit...large.

If Sievert's guess is correct, then the UfC should be commended for listening to fan reaction and abandoning plans. I'm not sure that's really what went down either, seems to me there's probably a middle ground explanation.
If Dana is telling the truth and I'm not entirely ruling it out...0.000001 percent is still a percent (and I'm not saying that's the percentage I put on this one) but if he is telling the truth then there's a communications gap that needs to be mended, like yesterday.

One last prediction. This fight will happen and it will happen on a pay per view. It may not be a UFC Pay Per View, in fact I don't think you'll see either man in the UFC any time soon if ever. However, someone will try and make money on this and that is the only thing in this whole story of which one can be 100% certain.

Continue Reading!